OPINION
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2004
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
EDITORIAL BOARD
www.kansan.com
Marketing plan will shape the University's new image
Some students may have heard the talk about the University of Kansas's new Integrated Marketing plan, but the rest should really pay attention. This plan includes some major changes in the way college shoppers see the University, and is aimed "to enhance the image, reputation and visibility of KU in the eyes of key constituents," according to the official KU Web site, www.ku.edu/marketing.
One aspect in particular was interesting: the marketing teams aim to improve our "visual identity." One of the key changes talked about is the University of Kansas seal. The teams think it should be used more sparingly and treated with the utmost respect, and some talk about changing the design of the seal. Perhaps it has to do with being a state-funded school and having Moses kneeling in front of a burning bush for our seal. KU administrators may want to be more cautious of the church and state separation, and others may feel the seal does not properly illustrate the University. While some would argue that this symbol stands for the pursuit of knowledge, others cannot look beyond the facts: it's from the Bible.
Should tradition carry on for its own sake, or should the University embrace a new seal design? If the seal did change, the top contender would be the Campanile. It's
unique to KU, it's recognizable and it comes with years of traditions surrounding it. But what does it say about the true mission of KU? That we take pride in our landmarks?
Another suggestion that might represent the true mission of KU includes Moses knealing before a giant "25." Sacrilege to some, but what others view as the truth: our Chancellor's long-standing goal to make the Top 25 Universities list. Maybe it's better to forget Moses altogether, and just make it a big "25."
If the Top 25 theme doesn't suit, there's another choice: a nostalgic picture of Wescoe Beach, the center of a student's life on campus. All the soliciting, cating and hanging out goes on there, so why not let us be remembered by what KU students actually do. If none of these ideas work, maybe the University could be associated with the state of Kansas. Perhaps an amalgam of ruby red slippers, a buffalo, a sunflower and a tornado would make a striking image for the seal. If sports are the focus at KU, maybe an anti-Mizzou or anti-North Carolina (if you're still bitter about Roy) would work best.
Whatever the choice may be, it's not in the students' hands. But one thing can be said: If the University is going to spend thousands of dollars on the marketing survey, students should want this emblem to get maximum use.
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Donkeys don't belong on campus.
Hee-haw!
it's Tuesday afternoon and I'm starting movie one of the Star Wars marathon. Ten straight hours of Star Wars, much better than class.
base. John Kerry and John Edwards have fought for the average American since they began serving in public office and it is time we have them working for all Americans.
If Heaven has women's restrooms, they must look just like the ones on the first floor of Blake Hall. Oh, yes.
The day is mine, Trebeck!
I think that I finally discovered Heaven and it's spelled C-H-I-P-O-T-L-E.
base. John Kerry and John Edwards have fought for the average American since they began serving in public office and it is time we have them working for all Americans.
图
SACK'S VIEW
"Sex on the Hill" is amazing and Mizzou sucks.
Am I the only one in Lawrence that would like to see Bill O'Reilly get smacked by one of his guests?
base. John Kerry and John Edwards have fought for the average American since they began serving in public office and it is time we have them working for all Americans.
Just when I start to respect everybody in this campus, it turns out they have bad musical taste. Dave Matthews sucks!
God, I hate you, Mr. Wendy's.
--base. John Kerry and John Edwards have fought for the average American since they began serving in public office and it is time we have them working for all Americans.
The hurricane victims picture made me sad. The kitten in the beer box picture made me really happy. The Kansan needs to print more pictures of kittens in beer boxes.
base. John Kerry and John Edwards have fought for the average American since they began serving in public office and it is time we have them working for all Americans.
My roommate thinks he's a lawyer. He must be very successful, because we haven't seen him for months.
Just to clarify: The side ponytail has been back. Give us a program.
Jennifer Weaver
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Register to vote, join the fight
Attention students: Your future is being decided without your input. In the 2000 election 67.7 percent of Americans aged 18 to 24 did not vote.
POLITICAL COMMENTARY
Let that settle in for a second. That means that on this campus two out of three students did not vote. While many see this national apathy as a barrier, I see it as an opportunity to get 18 million new votes. Think of what one million votes can do, let alone 18 million. That is why it is essential we work together to get our peers to the polls.
Last week I asked you to vote for John Kerry and the Democrats, but in this election voting is not enough. The stakes are too high and direct action is absolutely necessary. As the least active voting base in elections, we have a vast reserve of potential to present to this country.
The blame for the state of this country is squarely on the shoulders of the Republican Party. Right now the Republican Party controls all three branches of the government and in the past four years the numbers show that this has been disastrous.
Median income has declined by $1,535 since President Bush took office. There are now 4.3 million more people living below the poverty line, an increase of 14 percent.
Bush is the first president since Herbert Hoover to have a net decrease in job growth.
BLAKE SWENSON opinion@kansan.com
No Child Left Behind Act , Bush's touted education reform, fell $2 billion short of full funding in 2003 and is projected to fall $28 billion short in 2004.
In 2003,1.3 million new Americans became uninsured.
There are countless scandals involving intelligence blunders, Halliburton, Enron, fear and lies about a certain war.
By Sept. 30 the taxpayers will have paid $135 billion for the war in Iraq, a war which has cost more than 1,000 American lives (close to 200 were under 24), nearly 7,000 wounded soldiers and more than 12,000 innocent Iraqi civilians. In addition, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld called the fatalities "relatively small."
President Bush and the Republican Party are clearly not on our side. We need a president and a Congress that are not at the beck and call of the "haves and have mores" as President Bush calls his
These are the reasons you need to get involved. And there are many races that need you help. Kerry and Edwards need all the help they can get in Missouri. It is imperative that we set aside our rivalry with the Tigers to help get the Democratic Party the electoral votes they need to send Bush back to Crawford, Texas.
You can get involved in Kansas by working on Congressman Dennis Moore's campaign for re-election. He is facing Kris Kobach, a man who worked for John Ashcroft, and has declared that the Federal Marriage Amendment is the most important issue this year.
If you live west of Iowa Street, help Nancy Boyda unseat Jim Ryun, who has toed the party line 98 percent of the time, regardless of its impact on the state of Kansas. There are also a variety of local races that need volunteers, staff and your support.
Implore all of you to join the fight, get registered, get involved and help shape our future.
Swenson is a Topeka senior in Political Science. He works for the Kansas Democratic Party.
Feminist statistics skew issues
"...feminist theories should be political tools, strategies for overcoming oppression in specific concrete situations. The goal, then, of feminist theory, should be to develop strategic theories — not true theories...but strategic theories."
- Feminist scholar Kelly Oliver in Hypatia: A Journal of Feminist Philosophy
FRESH ARRAH
ARRAH NIELSEN
opinion@hansan.com
Feminists are good at many things: hysterical exaggeration, parrotting bogus statistics and promoting ridiculous productions like The Vagina Monologues. However, facts are not their forte.
The claim that one in four college women will have been raped is a frequently repeated feminist factiid. It's chanted at "Womyn Take Back the Night" marches across the country, and a similar statistic appeared this summer in The Kansan. The "one in four" figure is based on a flawed, 16-year-old Ms. Magazine study by Mary Koss. While only 3 percent of Koss' respondents reported that they had been raped, she expanded the definition to include consensual, non-coerced sex. Seventy-three percent of her rape victims didn't actually consider themselves to have been raped, and 43 percent of the rape victims in her study went on to date their "rapist." Either Koss' respondents were remarkably compliant victims or they weren't raped. If women's groups are so eager to "listen to women" they should listen to women when they maintain that
FI
According to a 1997 Justice Department-funded survey of female college students, "1.7 percent of female college students per year are victims of rape." A companion study using differently phrased questions found a 0.16 percent rate of completed rape. The U.S. Department of Education's study of reports to campus police, which included both on and off campus offenses, found low rates also — 1,800 forcible sex offenses at 6,300 colleges. The KU Public Safety Office reports similarly low findings, with only one reported rape in 2003.
thev haven't been raped.
Because rape is often unreported, the previously-mentioned studies may underestimate the problem. Let's assume, as the July 28 Kansan claimed, that 75 percent of rape victims do not report their attacks to authorities. If you triple the 1,800 figure it would still work out to less than one rape per school.
If feminist's statistics on rape are exaggerated, their figures on anorexia are
even more so. In Revolution from Within, Gloria Steinem wrote "according to the American Anorexia and Bulimia Association about 150,000 females die of anorexia each year." Naomi Wolf repeated the same statistic in The Beauty Myth as did Joan Brumberg in Fasting Girls. According to the National Center for Statistics and Analysis, there were 42,643 fatal car accidents in 2003.
Clark University philosophy professor Christina Hoff Sommers called up the American Anorexia and Bulimia Association only to find out that the 150,000 figure referred to 150,000 sufferers, not fatalities. "We were misquoted" explained its president, Diane Mickley. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, the annual number of deaths from anorexia is around 1,000. With such wildly inaccurate statistics, it's no wonder feminists are arguing that girls should take more math courses.
Feminists' efforts for victimized women are admirable, but that does not entitle them to float bogus statistics. I have two questions for my feminist sisters who would probably like to burn me alive if they're reading at this point: If the situation facing American women is so dire, why exaggerate facts? And if feminism is so liberating, why are they such an angry bunch?
Nielson is an Andover senior in anthropology and history.
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